1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to toys that are spring loaded and pop up into the air when activated. More particularly, the present invention relates to toys that contain a hemispherical structure that is inverted to store the spring energy needed to pop the toy into the air.
2. Prior Art Description
Rubber balls have been commercially manufactured for well over a century. Early toy rubber balls were made from two hemispherical pieces of rubber that were glued together to form the shape of the ball. As the balls were played with, it was not uncommon for the two halves of the ball to separate. A child playing with the ball would then have two half balls. Half balls were so common that many childhood games required the use of a “half ball”.
One game played with a half ball was to invert the half ball so that it would pop. When a half ball is inverted it stores energy like a spring. If the inverted ball were dropped or touched, the half ball would pop back into its hemispherical shape, thereby releasing the stored energy. The popping action of the half ball would cause the half ball to fly up into the air.
Recognizing the play value of half balls, toy manufacturers began to manufacture half balls and configure the half balls to optimize the popping action. Such half balls are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,153,957 to Davis, entitled Jumping ball, which was patented in 1938. A more modern variation of a half ball is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/879,713, entitle Pop Action Toy.
In other variations of half ball designs, secondary objects, such as dolls and superheroes have been attached to half balls. In this manner, when the half ball pops and flies into the air, so does the toy character. Half balls that carry secondary characters are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,538 to Willett, entitled Pop-Action Bouncing Doll.
Although half balls have many features that make them better than full balls, half balls also have many features that make them less desirable than a full ball. For instance, a half ball is not very aerodynamic. Accordingly, a half ball cannot be thrown as far as a full ball. Likewise, the odd shape of a half ball makes the half ball hard to catch and prevents the half ball from rolling.
A need therefore exists for a toy ball configuration that combines the novel features of a half ball with the advantages of a full ball. In this way, the toy ball can pop like a half ball, but can roll, fly and be caught like a spherical full ball. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.